When we sat down last week to decide what Community Links should respond to, we unearthed a glut of documents soliciting our opinion. While much of the third sector is busy shoehorning the phrase "big society" into every quote, and engaging diligently but perhaps indulgently with unpicking the concept, a host of specific and wide-ranging policy changes are under way in schools, hospitals, advice services, and the benefits system. Engaging directly with these, both for their impact on the communities in which we work, and on us as organisations, is vital.

The nagging doubt, of course, is that consultations are little more than window dressing for a set of proposals already on the way to becoming decisions. While this is undoubtedly true in some areas, there can be real value in engaging with the detail of complex proposals, even if the general direction is already set. For example, DWP's work programme looks like it is going to happen, but the crucial detail of how contracts are structured is still being worked through – details which will ultimately determine whether the programme works, and how charities like ours fit into it.

In contrast, when we asked local jobcentre clients a couple of years ago what they knew about the problems with the service they received, they told us that they found filling in the forms very difficult, particularly if English was their second language. A simple solution – installing bilingual volunteers to help out – reduced the rejection rate from 70% to 1%, and incidentally saved the jobcentre a year of staff time.

Consulting should be a vital part of policy development, but it too often falls short, either in the quality of the questions or the quality of the responses. This summer's consultation submissions could determine how the country looks in two years' time. They might not change the name of a flagship programme, but they can influence every level of the detail within it. All of us should be carefully examining what we know, and making every effort to get it across. Leaving it until after the holidays may be too late.